Romi invests in the diversification of products
Valor Econômico 03/18/2009
In order to bypass the impacts of the economic crisis in its business, the manufacturer of machines and cast parts, Indústrias Romi, is accelerating its portfolio diversification plan. With that, it intends to enter sectors like infrastructure, besides the segments of packages for foods, beverages and products of hygiene and cosmetics. With installations in Santa Bárbara D'Oeste, in the interior of São Paulo, the greatest part of the income of the company still come from the sale of tooling machines, like lighter lathes, segment in which it competes with German and Japanese producers. The new Romi cast line, part of the project of duplication of the current capacity that goes into operation this week, will give more vigor to the manufacturing of large size parts and components. It will increase its capacity by 10 thousand tons/year. It will produce items for use in the assembly of equipment like turbine rotors for hydroelectric power plants, grinding equipment for the sugar and alcohol industry, heavy shafts for the pulp industry, rolls for steel mills, besides equipment for wind, oil and gas facilities and ports. "The strategy is to develop a portfolio of products aimed at the infrastructure sector", affirms Livaldo Aguiar dos Santos, CEO of Romi. Romi, explains the executive, made important moves to assure markets, including in heavy machines. It bought the assets of Sandretto, in Italy, which marked its internationalization and opened new niches to place its products. Another action was to acquirer, in January of last year, JAC, in the neighbor city of Americana. The company is the producer of blowing machines for small bottles and other plastic parts aimed at the food, hygiene and cleaning and cosmetics segments. In the same month of this year, it purchased a PET blowing technology, aiming at entering the beverage and food packaging businesses. "We want to be the leader in this market". The demand for machines (tools and for plastics) continues weak in this beginning of year, explains the executive. But in the cast segment, since March, it has been seen a resumption with the fall in the stocks of the clients in the automotive sector and in the sector of agricultural machines and others, which suspended the orders to sell out the material stocked. Nonetheless, Romi had been operating with high level of production, near the capacity of 40 thousand tons a year. Besides casting, Romi had other investment plan, called Paradiso, in order to transfer to and integrate all its industrial in a new site, leaving of the central region of Santa Bárbara. The amount forecast, until 2011, was of US$ 160 million. Due to the crisis, the projects had to slow down. In total, out of the R$ 115 million (US$ 50 million) it would invest this year, they will be R$ 75 million (US$ 32.6 million).